Pravind Jugnauth | |
---|---|
5th Prime Minister of Mauritius | |
Assumed office 23 January 2017 | |
President | Ameenah Gurib-Fakim Barlen Vyapoory (acting) Eddy Balancy (acting) Pradeep Roopun |
Deputy | Louis Steven Obeegadoo |
Preceded by | Anerood Jugnauth |
Minister of Finance | |
Assumed office 26 May 2016 | |
Prime Minister | Anerood Jugnauth himself |
Preceded by | Anerood Jugnauth (Acting) |
In office 11 May 2009 –26 July 2011 | |
Prime Minister | Navin Ramgoolam |
Preceded by | Rama Sithanen |
Succeeded by | Xavier Luc Duval |
In office 7 October 2003 –5 July 2005 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Berenger |
Preceded by | Paul Berenger |
Succeeded by | Rama Sithanen |
Minister of Technology,Communication and Innovation | |
In office 14 December 2014 –1 July 2015 | |
Prime Minister | Anerood Jugnauth |
Preceded by | Chedumbrum Pillay |
Succeeded by | Etienne Sinatambou |
11th Leader of Opposition | |
In office 15 September 2014 –14 December 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Navin Ramgoolam |
Preceded by | Paul Bérenger |
Succeeded by | Paul Bérenger |
3rd Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius | |
In office 11 May 2010 –26 July 2011 | |
Prime Minister | Navin Ramgoolam |
Preceded by | Rama Sithanen |
Succeeded by | Anil Bachoo |
8th Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius | |
In office 7 October 2003 –5 July 2005 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Bérenger |
Preceded by | Paul Bérenger |
Succeeded by | Rashid Beebeejaun |
Leader of the Militant Socialist Movement | |
Assumed office 30 October 2003 | |
Preceded by | Anerood Jugnauth |
| |
Assumed office 9 May 2009 | |
Preceded by | Ashok Jugnauth |
Majority | 20,080 (57.10%) [1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Pravind Kumar Jugnauth 25 December 1961 La Caverne,British Mauritius |
Political party | Militant Socialist Movement |
Spouse | Kobita Ramdanee |
Children | 3 |
Parents |
|
Alma mater | |
Website | www |
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth [2] [3] (born 25 December 1961) is a Mauritian politician serving as the prime minister of Mauritius since January 2017. Jugnauth has been the leader of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) party since April 2003. [4] He has held a number of ministerial portfolios and also been Leader of the Opposition.
Born on 25 December 1961 in La Caverne,a suburb area in Vacoas-Phoenix,Mauritius,Jugnauth was born into a Hindu Yaduvanshi Ahir family. [5] He was born to Anerood Jugnauth,former President and Prime Minister of Mauritius,and Sarojini Ballah,a schoolteacher. He has an elder sister,Shalini Jugnauth-Malhotra. [6] [7]
After primary schooling at Aryan Vedic,he studied at Royal College Curepipe. He then went on to study law at the University of Buckingham,thus joining the Lincoln's Inn,and became a barrister. He then joined Aix-Marseille University in France where he graduated with a "diploma in civil law." [8]
Pravind Jugnauth married Kobita Ramdanee in 1992 and is the father of three daughters:Sonika,Sonali and Sara. [8]
Pravind Jugnauth entered the political arena in 1987 and officially joined the MSM in 1990. [8] [9]
As Minister of Agriculture from 7 September 2000 to 7 October 2003 (under MSM-MMM government),Jugnauth reformed the sugar sector by diversification with the production of ethanol,agricultural rhum,special sugars,electricity generation from bagasse and other high value-added products. Besides production costs were significantly reduced in response to a drop in the protected sugar price under the Sugar Protocol with the European Union. He also negotiated a package for workers under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme which enabled around 8000 workers to retire with cash compensation exceeding 2.5 billion rupees and around 825 arpents of land worth 3 billion rupees.
Jugnauth also encouraged hydroponics and other modern methods of agricultural production as well as agricultural biotechnology research. He created a National Agricultural Biotechnology Institute and Food Technology Laboratory in Mauritius and later launched the Small Planters Welfare Fund. The fund caters to the welfare of planters and their families and provides crop insurance schemes designed to financially support planters whose crops are affected by unfavourable weather conditions.
As Finance Minister from 7 October 2003 to 5 July 2005,Jugnauth reduced taxes on thousands of commodities. He increased subsidies on basic commodities and gave salary compensations well above inflation rates in two successive years. He launched a project to make Mauritius a Duty Free Island. [10]
In June 2005 Prime Minister Paul Berenger dissolved the Parliament in preparation for the 2005 General Elections. The Labour-led Alliance Sociale won a total seat of 38 against the MSM-MMM alliance which obtained only 24 seats. Pravind Jugnauth was defeated in his constituency,received 48% of vote and was not elected. [11] Paul Berenger became Leader of the Opposition made up of MSM (14 seats) and MMM (10 seats).
In 2006 MP Ashok Jugnauth left the MSM party and formed a new party following a dispute with Pravind Jugnauth regarding the leadership of the party. At that time Pravind was not an elected member of Parliament but still held leadership of the MSM. Nando Bodha the general secretary of the MSM became Leader of the Opposition after the MSM-MMM alliance split up due to Pravind Jugnauth's disapproval of Paul Berenger's request to make Rajesh Bhagwan the Opposition Chief Whip. In 2007 two members of MSM (Joe Lesongard the party's president and Sekar Naidu) left the MSM and swore allegiance to Berenger who became Leader of the Opposition.
Ashok Jugnauth (half-brother of Sir Anerood Jugnauth and uncle of Pravind) had been elected as MSM member of parliament in Constituency No.8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. But he had to resign in November 2008 as the British Privy Council upheld the guilty verdict that the Supreme Court of Mauritius had issued in 2007 following charges of electoral bribery during the campaign leading to the 2015 General Elections. Thus by-elections had to be held in 2009. [12] Ashok Jugnauth stood as a candidate with the support of MMM. The Labour Party supported Pravind Jugnauth who then announced his candidacy in the 8th constituency. [13] On 2 March 2009,Pravind Jugnauth won the by-elections. His victory paved the way for the next alliance (Labour Party-MSM) during the 2010 general elections.
In 2009,MSM formed a coalition known as Alliance de L'Avenir or Ptr-MSM-PMSD by joining forces with the Mauritian Labour Party and Mauritian Social Democrat Party. The coalition won the May 2010 elections. On Navin Ramgoolam's advice,President Sir Anerood Jugnauth then appointed Jugnauth Vice Prime Minister &Minister of Finance as of 11 May 2010. [14] On 26 July 2011 Jugnauth and all other MSM ministers resigned due to the scandal known as the MedPoint Affair. [15] [16]
In 2014,following the resignation of Paul Berenger as Leader of the Opposition,President Kailash Purryag appointed Jugnauth to the office. [17] [18] Jugnauth served as Leader of the Opposition from September to December 2014.
He was appointed Minister of Information Technology following the Alliance Lepep's victory.
On 23 January 2017,he was chosen by his party MSM to lead the National Assembly. This triggered the ruling coalition partner Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate to leave the government and join the Opposition. Pravind Jugnauth served as Prime Minister of Mauritius during the second half of the Alliance Lepep's mandate which concluded with general elections in November 2019.
Following the victory of the Alliance Morisien (a coalition of MSM-ML-MAG parties) at the 2019 General Elections Pravind Jugnauth was elected as Prime Minister for a five-year mandate.
The sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean is disputed between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. In February 2019,the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the United Kingdom must transfer the islands to Mauritius as they were illegally separated from the latter in 1965. [19] The UK does not recognise Mauritius' sovereignty claim over the Chagos Archipelago. [20] In October 2020,Jugnauth described the British and American governments as "hypocrites" and "champions of double talk" over their response to the dispute. [21]
Pravind Jugnauth was honoured Doctor from the University of Buckingham with an Honoris Causa in 2005. In 2017 he has awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President of India.
In 2010,the PTR-MSM-PMSD government acknowledged the need to create a specialized centre for geriatric care. Thus the cabinet of Ministers approved the purchase of the existing MedPoint Private Clinic which was owned by Dr. Krishnan Malhotra and Mrs Shalini Devi Jugnauth-Malhotra. The latter is the sister of then Minister of Finance Pravind Jugnauth and daughter of then President Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The objective was to convert the hospital into a specialised centre. [22]
On 22 July 2011 following an investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC),then Minister of Health Maya Hanoomanjee was arrested by the ICAC Police and the government chief valuer was suspended from his duties. Pravind Jugnauth was also arrested on charges of "conflict of interest". [23] This became known as the MedPoint Affair. On 30 June 2015 Jugnauth was found guilty under Article 13 of the Prevention Of Corruption Act 2002 (PoCA). [24] He was sentenced by the Intermediate court of Mauritius for 1 year of imprisonment. However,he appealed to the Supreme Court of Mauritius and won his appeal. [25] The prosecution appealed to the UK Privy Council which is constitutionally Mauritius' Highest Appeal Court,but the prosecution appeal was ultimately unsuccessful.
On 26 December 2012 Pravind Jugnauth was arrested and interrogated by Central CID on charges of sedition. This followed a complaint lodged by former minister Sheila Bappoo of the Labour Party after Pravind Jugnauth's revelations about the abuse of power and financial scandals involving Navin Ramgoolam's girlfriend Nandanee Soornack. Pravind Jugnauth's arrest was decried as being arbitrary and a form of harassment by Navin Ramgoolam,as the previous application of the anti-sedition law dated back to 1972. Lawyer Roshi Bhadain assisted Pravind Jugnauth in his legal defence. [26] [27]
The known and sometimes formally documented history of Mauritius begins with its possible discovery by Austronesians under the Austronesian expansion from pre-Han Taiwan,circa 1500 to 1000 BC,and then by Arabs,,followed by Portuguese and its appearance on European maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Netherlands,France and Great Britain,and became independent on 12 March 1968.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth,GCSK,PV,was a Mauritian statesman,politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton &Riviere Du Rempart. A central figure of Mauritian politics in the 1980s and 1990s,he was Leader of the Opposition from 1976 to 1982. He served four consecutive terms as prime minister from 1982 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2003. He was then elected as President from 2003 to 2012. Following his party's victory in the 2014 general elections,he served his sixth and final term as prime minister,becoming the nation's longest serving prime minister with more than 18 years of tenure,overtaking Seewoosagur Ramgoolam,who held the office for 14 years.
Paul Raymond Bérenger is a Mauritian politician who was Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2003 to 2005. He has been Leader of the Opposition on several occasions –from 1983 to 1987,1997 to 2000,2005 to 2006,2007 to 2013,October 2013 to 15 September 2014,and again from December 2014 to December 2016 when he was replaced by Xavier-Luc Duval. Following his party's defeat in the 2014 general elections,he became Leader of the Opposition for the sixth time,making him the longest ever to serve in this constitutional position. He was also Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2003,and he was a cabinet minister in the government of Anerood Jugnauth in 1982 and 1991. Bérenger,a Christian of Franco-Mauritian descent,has been the only non-Hindu Prime Minister of Mauritius,or,more particularly,the only Prime Minister who has not belonged to the Jugnauth or Ramgoolam families.
The Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) is a left-wing socialist political party in Mauritius. The party was founded by a group of students in the late 1960s. The MMM advocates a "fairer" society,without discrimination on the basis of social class,race,community,caste,religion,gender or sexual orientation.
Since 1967,Mauritius has experienced 12 free and fair democratic general elections to choose a government.
The Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties,along with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM),the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD). As a member of the Labour Party-MMM alliance,it elected four members of parliament in the general election of 2014. The party is led by Navin Ramgoolam.
Navinchandra Ramgoolam,GCSK,FRCP,is a Mauritian politician who twice served as the Prime Minister of Mauritius and leader of the Labour Party (Mauritius). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1991 to 1995. He served as Prime Minister for the first time from December 1995 until September 2000,and then became Leader of the Opposition again from October 2000 to 4 July 2005. On 5 July 2005,he became prime minister for a second term after his coalition,"Alliance Sociale" won the general elections. He was re-elected Prime Minister in 2005,serving till 2014,when he was defeated.
The Militant Socialist Movement is a centre-left political party in Mauritius. It is the single largest political party in the National Assembly of Mauritius,having won 42 of the 69 seats in the 2019 general elections. It also holds the largest number of seats in all city/town councils through the country with 60 councillors out of 120.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 3 July 2005,with polls counted on 4 July.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 11 September 2000 to elect the members of the National Assembly.
Charles Gaëtan Xavier Luc Duval is a Mauritian politician who is the present Leader of the Opposition and was also Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius in the cabinet of Sir Anerood Jugnauth from December 2014 to December 2016. He was also Minister of Tourism &External Communications and serves as 1st Member of Parliament elected from Constituency No 18 Belle Rose &Quatres Bornes. He is the leader of the Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD). His party has 4 MPs at parliament and he succeeded Arvin Boolell as Leader of Opposition on 4 March 2021.
Ashock Kumar Jugnauth,also known as Ashok Jugnauth is a Mauritian politician and former Member of Parliament.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 15 September 1991. Three main parties gained seats in this election:the Militant Socialist Movement,Mauritian Militant Movement and the Labour Party. The MSM formed an alliance with the MMM and the Labour Party formed an alliance with the Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD). On 17 September 1991,results showed that MSM-MMM won 57 out of 66 seats. This gave 95% of seats to MSM-MMM leader Anerood Jugnauth and 5% to Labour Party-PMSD leader Navin Ramgoolam.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 20 November 1995. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party-Mauritian Militant Movement alliance led by Navin Ramgoolam,which won all 60 constituency seats on Mauritius. Along with 1982,it was one of two elections in which a party won every seat. The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) led by Anerood Jugnauth lost power after 13 years,with Jugnauth resigning two days after the results were announced. Navin Ramgoolam became Prime Minister and appointed Paul Berenger as Deputy Prime Minister.
The Militant Socialist Movement/Mauritian Militant Movement (MSM/MMM) is coalition party that formed the government of the Republic of Mauritius from September 2000 to July 2005. The coalition has been reformed in April 2012 after an electoral agreement between the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) was made with Sir Anerood Jugnauth as leader. The agreements remain the same,30 seats for the MMM and 30 seats for the MSM. It has also been conveyed that SAJ would be prime minister for 3 years and Paul Berenger would take over for the rest of the parliamentary term if the coalition wins the next general elections. It has also been agreed that Pravind Jugnauth who is leader of the MSM will not be in the Front Bench of the coalition in an eventual government of the MSM/MMM. This is because he has been provisionally charged with using office for gratification by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. He will therefore seat as a back-bencher until he is dismissed from all accusations.
The L'Alliance de L'avenir was a political alliance in Mauritius which was formed in 2010 for the next parliamentary elections which were held on 5 May 2010. It is an alliance of the Labour Party,Mouvement Socialiste Militant and Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate. It was formed by the prime minister Dr. Navin Ramgoolam and is led by three other people,namely Rashid Beebeejaun,Xavier-Luc Duval and Pravind Jugnauth.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 21 August 1983. The result was a victory for an alliance of the Militant Socialist Movement,the Labour Party and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate,which between them won 46 seats. The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won 32 seats,whilst the Labour Party secured nine seats and PMSD five. This alliance allowed Jugnauth to continue as Prime Minister while bringing Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Gaetan Duval back into the government after their severe defeat in the 1982 elections. Shortly after,Ramgoolam was appointed as Governor General,Duval became Deputy Prime Minister and Satcam Boolell became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Voter turnout was 85%.
Nandcoomar Bodha MP is a Mauritian politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius. He was also the Minister of Tourism &Leisure of Mauritius. He has been holding the office since 11 May 2010 to 26 July 2011,He held the same office from 2000 to 2003 in the MSM/MMM coalition government. When Pravind Jugnauth was sworn as Deputy Prime Minister,he took the office of Minister of Agriculture in 2003 up to 2005.He was appointed 8th position in the Cabinet of Navin Ramgoolam.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 10 December 2014 and resulted in a landslide victory for the Alliance Lepep coalition,which secured 47 of the elected seats under the leadership of Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The Labour Party–Mauritian Militant Movement (PTR–MMM) alliance led by Navin Ramgoolam got 13 seats.
The Mauritian Socialist Party was a political party in Mauritius.
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